Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a distinctive, experiential learning process that helps individuals develop effectiveness in ministry.
The goals of CPE are to foster growth in four areas:
- The ability to be reflective about the personal and professional dimensions of the practice of ministry
- Formation and integration of pastoral identity in the context of covenantal relationships
- Competence in the skills of spiritual care
- For advanced students, expertise in areas of spiritual care specialization
Applications are now being accepted for January 2026 and May 2026
Several features make CPE distinctive
CPE is distinctive because it is:
- Experience-based learning: Students spend half or more of their time in the actual experience of ministry, providing care and learning from the persons with whom they are in ministry.
- Student-centered: As adult learners, students determine their own learning goals and chart their progress with their educator through the course of the unit. As such learning in CPE highly customized.
- Deeply personal and intensely interpersonal: The learning process relies heavily on a small group of peers dedicated to a covenant of mutual learning in order to develop the habits of a reflective professional.
Learning in CPE is holistic: cognitive, affective, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.
Accreditation
Program units of Level 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b CPE at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center are accredited by:
ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30328
404-320-0849
Contact
For questions and more information, please contact Gillian Cook, Program Coordinator, CPE, at gillian.m.cook@hitchcock.org.